IPL's big hitters

The lineup of players for the season seems exciting, although a tad bit too predictable.

February is business-time in the cricket world, ever since the Indian Premier League came into being. At the sixth player auction, and the last one before all players go into the pool again in 2014, here's who minted money and who missed out on a hefty pay-cheque?

Big spenders

Mumbai Indians led the pack at the auction as they usually do, given that this is the franchise with the biggest purse. They spent two million dollars in getting five overseas players, and also managed to land the biggest bid of the day. Australian all-rounder Glenn Maxwell became the latest cricketer to join the million-dollar club, the only one to cross the mark this year.

Their other big buy was Ricky Ponting for 400,000 USD. On paper it is a mediocre purchase, given that the Aussie legend is no more an active international cricketer and has never had a good IPL record. But the upside is that he will form a core batting strength for their team along with Sachin Tendulkar. The Reliance-owned franchise also purchased Aussie opener Phil Hughes (1,00,000 USD), all-rounders Nathan Coulter-Nile (4,50,000 USD) and Jacob Oram (50,000 USD).

Thirsting for bowlers

Chennai Super Kings and Royal Challengers Bangalore came in with set strategies to bolster their bowling line-ups. The most successful franchise in IPL history, Chennai were after Indian bowlers as coach Stephen Fleming had claimed prior to the auction. But the unpredictability of this bidding affair meant they ended up with five foreigners instead. They bought Dutch-Australian pacer Dirk Nannes (6,00,000 USD), South African all-rounder Chris Morris (6,25,000 USD), Aussie seamer Ben Laughlin (20,000 USD), Lankan spinner Akila Dananjaya (20,000 USD) and West Indian pacer Jason Holder (20,000 USD).

The Challengers meanwhile grabbed enough medium-pace bowlers to build an academy of their own. Their intent seemed to be backing up Zaheer Khan and other bowling options, though in the end it seemed they took a step too far when they went home with seven players. Five of them, RP Singh (4,00,000 USD), Moises Henriques (3,00,000 USD), Jaydev Unadkat (5,25,000 USD), Pankaj Singh (1,50,000 USD) and Ravi Rampaul (2,90,000 USD) are full-time bowlers, while the other two, Christopher Barnwell (50,000 USD) and Dan Christian (100,000 USD) are bowling all-rounders.

Team-builders

There were two franchises out there that have been troubled enough in recent times and have not paid much attention to their squads. Pune Warriors missed the auction last year in protest and hence had to make do with crumbs. Meanwhile Sun-Risers Hyderabad, the new kids on the block, have had to rebuild from scratch. Both teams though went home happy. Pune got Michael Clarke (4,00,000 USD) and they intend to hand him the captaincy, despite the return of Yuvraj Singh. They also brought in all-rounders Ajantha Mendis (725,000 USD) and Abhishek Nayar (6,75,000 USD), as also young Aussie quick Kane Richardson (7,00,000 USD). Their batting continues to pose question marks though.

Meanwhile Hyderabad also went heavy on all-rounders. They successfully bid for Thisara Perera (675,000 USD), Darren Sammy (425,000 USD), Sudeep Tyagi (1,00,000 USD), Nathan MCullum (1,00,000 USD), Quinton de Kock (20,000 USD) and Clint McKay (1,00,000 USD). How much will this resurrect their franchise remains to be seen though?

South Africa’s Vernon Philander was the biggest surprise this year, as he went unsold in the auction. The swing bowler has been in tremendous touch whenever he picks up the ball for the Proteas, even relegating Dale Steyn to first change during the England Test series. Aussie T20 specialist Aaron Finch and New Zealand’s Martin Guptill, who recently hit a T20-International hundred, also didn’t invite any bids.

Chetan Narula is the author of Skipper: A Definitive Account of India’s Greatest Captains.